"Our little boy always slept well at night. Then all of a sudden, at 11 months, he began waking at 5am or 5.30am. We chose a time that we believed was reasonable to get up and left him in his cot until then. If he was distressed, we went in and gave him a cuddle to settle him. We chose 6am at first, and then gradually over a couple of months dragged it out until 7am. This is the time he gets up at now at 15 months."
Joanne

"Early mornings were a nightmare but I found that giving my little one some warm milk helped her settle back down. Now she's got used to that she's sleeping until after 6am. I've also found that leaving her in her cot has helped. She'll now sit and play with toys or amuse herself until 8am."
Sammi

"My health visitor suggested an alarm clock set for 6am. If my toddler does wake up early, she knows that she shouldn't call for us until her alarm goes off."
Lola

"I recommend black-out blinds. Our little girl started waking as soon as dawn broke. We put up a black-out blind so that when she woke up it still seemed like night-time. Now she wakes up at 7am every day."
Kim

"My 14-month-old started getting up between 4am and 5am every morning. Once I laid her back down again in her cot she would start screaming and crying. I did two things. First, I picked her up for a cuddle then laid her back down and said 'It's not time to get up yet.' If that didn't work, I would leave the room and let her cry herself back to sleep. It was difficult, but I stuck with it. After a week she was out of the habit."
Miranda

"Leave his favourite toy or book in his cot, so that when he wakes up he can play until you're ready to get up."
Tim

"Have you tried putting him to bed earlier? I had the same problem last year with my son and read somewhere that early waking could be due to lack of sleep rather than too much. Anyway, we tried and it worked!"
Lynda

"Dark mornings mean our daughter hasn't got anything to judge the time by. She thinks it's time to get up whenever she wakes! We've bought a trainer clock with a face that changes when it's time to get up."
Sunita

"My son is 20 months and until about two months ago he use to wake up at 5.30am every morning. I decided I couldn't cope with it, so I cut his daytime nap down to 30 minutes. Since then he has slept until 7.30am every morning."
Jasmine

"Try giving him a snack about an hour before he goes into his cot. My little one doesn't wake up hungry at 5am any more!"
Rose

"Try not to go in to your son when he wakes up early. He'll cry at first but after a while he'll go back to sleep. I tried it with my toddler and it works."
Mandy

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